Andrew Tulloch , a co-founder of Mira Murati ’s artificial intelligence startup Thinking Machines Lab , has left the company to join Meta Platforms , the startup has confirmed. The AI researcher reportedly confirmed his departure in a recent message to employees. This move is the latest recruiting win for Meta as it shifts focus toward building out its AI teams. Tulloch also has a history with Meta, having worked for the Facebook parent for 11 years previously. He departed in 2023 for a tenure at OpenAI before co-founding Thinking Machines Lab with Murati at the start of this year. This move comes as Meta is currently focusing on organising its AI talent to pursue what the company calls superintelligence. In June, Scale AI co-founder Alexandr Wang joined the social media giant after Meta invested $14.3 billion in the startup.
What Thinking Machines Lab said about Andrew Tulloch’s departure
In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, a spokeswoman for Thinking Machines Lab said: “Andrew has decided to pursue a different path for personal reasons.”
She also added that Tulloch’s contributions “have been foundational” in helping the company reach its current position.
“We’re grateful for what he helped build here and are committed to finishing what we started together,” the spokeswoman noted.
A previous report even claimed that Tulloch was offered a compensation package from Meta that could have reached about $1.5 billion, factoring in top bonuses and strong stock performance, but he turned it down.
A Meta spokesperson later described that characterisation as “inaccurate and ridiculous,” noting that the value of any package depends on stock growth. However, details of the offer Tulloch accepted remain undisclosed.
Meta has been aggressively expanding its AI workforce, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally reaching out to top researchers via email, WhatsApp, and private meetings. Over the summer, he recruited more than 50 experts from companies such as OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Apple, Anthropic, and xAI, including Tulloch, one of several former Thinking Machines employees approached.
Thinking Machines, founded by Mira Murati in February with $2 billion in funding and staffed by over 20 former OpenAI colleagues, recently launched Tinker, an API for fine-tuning large language models.
Meta has also restructured its AI operations into a new Superintelligence Labs division, led by Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, following its acquisition of a 49% stake in Scale AI. The division now includes four teams, including TBD Lab, which is working near Zuckerberg’s office on future versions of Meta’s Llama language model.
The company plans to spend up to $72 billion this year on data centres to support its AI goals and recently launched an AI video generator feature in its Meta AI app, following OpenAI’s similar release.
What Thinking Machines Lab said about Andrew Tulloch’s departure
In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, a spokeswoman for Thinking Machines Lab said: “Andrew has decided to pursue a different path for personal reasons.”
She also added that Tulloch’s contributions “have been foundational” in helping the company reach its current position.
“We’re grateful for what he helped build here and are committed to finishing what we started together,” the spokeswoman noted.
A previous report even claimed that Tulloch was offered a compensation package from Meta that could have reached about $1.5 billion, factoring in top bonuses and strong stock performance, but he turned it down.
A Meta spokesperson later described that characterisation as “inaccurate and ridiculous,” noting that the value of any package depends on stock growth. However, details of the offer Tulloch accepted remain undisclosed.
Meta has been aggressively expanding its AI workforce, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally reaching out to top researchers via email, WhatsApp, and private meetings. Over the summer, he recruited more than 50 experts from companies such as OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Apple, Anthropic, and xAI, including Tulloch, one of several former Thinking Machines employees approached.
Thinking Machines, founded by Mira Murati in February with $2 billion in funding and staffed by over 20 former OpenAI colleagues, recently launched Tinker, an API for fine-tuning large language models.
Meta has also restructured its AI operations into a new Superintelligence Labs division, led by Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang, following its acquisition of a 49% stake in Scale AI. The division now includes four teams, including TBD Lab, which is working near Zuckerberg’s office on future versions of Meta’s Llama language model.
The company plans to spend up to $72 billion this year on data centres to support its AI goals and recently launched an AI video generator feature in its Meta AI app, following OpenAI’s similar release.
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